3mm4 wrote:There is one that most people will disagree with: proactive. That is not a word, and EVERYONE uses it. It just doesn't make sense. You can act, or you can react. You cannot proact. You cannot act before the act because that is still just an act. GAH. That is pretty much my biggest pet peeve EVER. (Literally.)

Well, here I am, disagreeing. Although proact is not a word, proactive means of or related to acting in anticipation of future wants or needs. It basically means that no current stimulus causes the action, as a reaction would, and, unlike the word action, implies that there is a future cause for the action that justifies its existence.

I can't proact, but I sure as hell can be proactive. But, catch me being so and there will be a substantial reward. Because you won't ever find it.

They aren't being proactive! They are just acting earlier than they have to! It's still acting! People only use the word proactive to let everyone else know that they are ahead of the game. That's why politicians use it so much. They can say "hey, look at me, I'm doing all this stuff NOW and not leaving it until later! w00t!" but what they are doing is still an action. It is just an action that they did earlier than they needed to.

Man, I totally shouldn't have brought this up, because I am completely incapable of letting it go.

Yes, proactive is a subset of active. BUT SQUARE IS A SUBSET OF RECTANGLE! Sorry, for shouting, but come on. "Proactive" isn't the only word that has broader synonyms that don't quite cover the subtleties that it does.

And yes, I do agree that many doublespeak-users often claim to be proactive. But they also claim to be honest and such, but you aren't suggesting that such equally well established terms be removed from use, are you?